Marionette
by MadeInRomania
Summary: They were a team. Even after everyone walked their own path, they still considered themselves a team. Indestructible. Powerful. Unbreakable. But when a certain mastermind starts pulling on their strings, lies, secrets and betrayals shake their trust in each other and not even the demon acting in the shadow can do much on their behalf, what twists are going to take their lives now?


**A/N: **

**Yu Yu Hakusho © Yoshihiro Togashi**

**Cover © lince (DeviantArt)**

_**abc - thoughts, accent, qoute**_

**And a big 'Thank you!' to my beta-reader.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Crazy**

Erratic steps, fearful even, echoed in every corner of the hall. A dim figure seemed to forsake the safety offered by the wall and walked to the middle of the room, but due to the cloak and hood, it was still impossible to figure out the identity of the owner.

"Did you?"

The demon, who had previously produced the noises, flinched at the curious, apparently innocent voice. However, Yazu – for that was the demon's name – knew better than to believe this fake innocence. He knew that behind that was hidden a demand that accepted no negative answer. Averting his gaze towards the mysterious person, he narrowed his eyes in another pathetic attempt to distinguish the face behind the hood. As always, it failed. There wasn't much Yazu knew about his employer – in fact, no one really did – but one thing he was sure about: this couldn't have been a human. He couldn't feel any youki emitted, but no human would dare to meet a demon with no one watching his back, let alone act bossy or silently threaten. The employee stretched a hand through his blond hair, trying to keep his cool. His grey eyes lingered over the other's frame in search for more information. By his measuring, the masked one was about 6 ft tall and surely had a straight, elegant posture. And lots of money. How else could he or she afford paying a spy?

_Maybe if I look out for all the rich demons…?_ He shook his head, chasing away the thought – now was not the time.

"Y-yeah." Yazu swallowed hard, taking a short break to find the right words. He wasn't the smartest guy but he had heard the rumors too. According to them, if you worked for the 'Mask', as some nicknamed the cloaked one, you had to fulfill your task properly and carefully choose your words. Otherwise… none of the stories he had heard was reassuring. "Are you sure about this? If Urameshi finds out –"

"He doesn't need to find out." _They won't even know what hit them._

It wasn't a suggestion, not even an order. Despite the calm, slightly monotone voice, the silent threaten continued to vibrate in the demon's mind for a few long seconds.

* * *

_Four months later_

One of the unwritten rules of an institution called hospital was: 'Be quiet.' Probably, those who made it up should have made another one especially for spiritual detectives because Yusuke was far from respecting it. Or, perhaps, just hire a dozen more guards.

"Please, sir, the visit time is over," The receptionist pleaded spasmodically once more but it proved to be just as inefficient as the guards' attempt to kick him out. "You may come by tomorrow-"

"Who cares about the visit time?! Just tell me where Kurama is and I'm out of here."

Actually, the 'visit' began well, civilized. However, after half an hour of repeating the same question and receiving the same useless answer, plus two careful checks on the patients and employees lists, Urameshi lost all his patience...and he wasn't known to be a patient man from the beginning! Hence, he was now wandering around the halls, opening every door in his way, ignoring the receptionist's insistences.

"No, no! You can't go in there!" the poor woman tried frantically to stop him seeing how this next door was off-limit for a damn good reason!

Too late.

The door of a surgery room had already been loudly opened, a victorious smile adoring now the brunet's face. The sleeping patient lying on the table, the woman's gasp, the shocked doctors staring at him – none of these bothered him. Unlike the other medics, Kurama sighed helplessly without needing to look behind to know who it was, then put the tools aside. If Yusuke had made such a blunt entrance, here, during a surgery, it must have been something really important.

"I think I'll take my lunch break earlier today."

All the colleague next to him could do was give a weak nod, but skipping over that, the redhead left the room. He carefully removed the bloody gloves, dropping them in the specific bin then, according to the standard procedure, washed his hands. He pointed at the name inscription on the robe, _'Dr. Shuuichi Minamino'_, in order to clarify why the receptionist couldn't have helped the detective. He was sure that this time too would be useless – for some reason unknown to him, nor Yusuke, nor Kuwabara could get used to this name. He thanked whatever God up there the surgery wasn't a complicated one, although he was sure to get in trouble for Yusuke's... unconventional break in.

* * *

Kurama crossed his arms as he rested his back against the sofa, waiting for an answer. Luckily, Keiko was perfectly healthy - that if you ignored her appetite for certain foods -, as well as all the other closest to the detective. According to the brunet, she was currently looking for some baby clothes, accompanied by Shizuru and Yukina. Oh, and Kuwabara! Though you could successfully bet he was there just to be around the ice maiden. Yusuke sighed, glancing at the passers-by, then at the untouched cups on the cafe's table. Why did women buy clothes when they didn't even know whether it was a boy or a girl? That was above his power of understanding. Then again…women.

"Long story short, Botan is busy, so Koenma sent me after I-don't-know-what information. So what did you find out?"

"I thought you quit working for him," the doctor noted, looking a little surprised. Sure, Urameshi returning to bad habits wasn't so unexpected, but the news hadn't reached his ears up to this moment.

"So did I... until last week, when Botan literally flew through my window and gave me this." The brunet placed a black cassette on the table. "She said she had some message for you too."

The redhead balanced the words for a second; the fact that the blue-haired female was so late wasn't a good sign. Whatever that 'some message' was, it must have been important and the thought of someone else interfering didn't escape his mind.

"I haven't seen her in months. What was the message about?" the fox asked sipping his coffee with elegant moves.

"No idea," Urameshi answered casually, shrugging. "Something about crazy demons and Yomi. Seeing as you two are getting along…"

"I wouldn't say we're best friends. Besides, I cut all bonds with the Demon World, including Yomi," Kurama pointed out.

"Bullshit!" The ex-Detective pointed accusingly at the other. "I saw you at the tournament!"

"As a watcher, while you were battling. I wanted to be sure that you got out alive," the redhead motivated unfazed by the accusations.

"Fair enough… Next time I'll kick their asses for sure!" Yusuke smashed his fist against the table, the competition spirit controlling him for a moment. His hand landed right next to the cassette, reminding him of the recording it was containing. Frowning slightly, he tapped on the item, his eyes getting a serious sparkle. "But until then, I think you should watch this."

* * *

Nothing seemed wrong. Some were entering and exiting without making any troubles at all, while others carried wounded demons on barrows. At some point, five guys crossed the distance between the front door and another room, hurrying to get the badly injured ones to the said room. Sixty minutes later, one of those supposed doctors returned to give the awful news to the patients' friends. The words weren't clear, but Kurama managed to read them on his lips. However, the medic didn't even get to finish the explanation when the room's door was loudly opened and the other doctors ran out. One of them, painted with blood on the green coat, clung desperately on another's sleeve, blabbering something. The next minutes were pure craziness. The supposed injured demons busted into the hall and attacked everything and everyone in their way. They didn't seem to have a particular target, but one goal: to destroy. One of them managed to get to the security camera, causing it to lose the image, probably by smashing it. After that, the sound recording didn't last longer than mere seconds either.

"I still think they're nuts," Kuwabara commented as he put the popcorn bowl aside.

"The doctor said they were dead…" the fox muttered, looking intensely at the screen, searching for a plausible, favorable and obviously logical explanation.

"They seemed pretty alive to me."

"In any case," the redhead said turning to the detective, "Until Botan shows up, mind if I keep the recording?" Something was missing, something was way off; the same patients couldn't have recovered physically in such a short time. Moreover, demon or not, why would you attack someone who just saved your life?

A frown graced his face, some of the possible scenarios coming to his mind, none too reassuring.

* * *

A diaphanous door was slid open only to reveal a large room. A rather tall man, yet well built, leaned against the door frame. The expression on his sharp face seemed bored but once the multitude of his experiments was revealed, it grew delighted. Not bothered by the dim light, the scientist walked around the place, bending to check on each experiment growing into a casket. At first, he was frustratingly unsuccessful; however, after over ten attempts and a considerable amount of dead subjects, he managed to pull out a strong weapon. A weapon that, he assumed, everyone will see as innocent. What harm could a simple flower do, anyway? That is if it stayed just a flower. Answer: it could cause lots of damage. Using a gloved finger, he touched a bell-shaped purple flower. _Funny how such a beauty could be so deadly._ With a final glimpse, he left the lab in favor of a whole different space at the other end of the hall.

There were only a handful of people in the said room and all circled the round table. The room itself wasn't much of a deal, but unlike the lab it looked more aged due to the brick walls and torches lighting it. The five occupants of the room turned their gaze to the grinning scientist, hoping for good news.

"Gentlemen, our plan has begun and is, currently, successful," The scientist announced proudly.

"Currently? So you didn't get rid of that brat _yet_," a husky voice came from the third seat as its owner rested his chin on his tangled digits. "He's going to interfere again."

"Not yet," the scientist agreed. "Of course he will interfere, and _that_ is exactly what I want." The man took his time looking the doubting looks on the others' faces and decided to enlighten their minds with the depths of his plan.

"'Divide and conquer' is quite a strong saying," he continued, "but we'll do the exact opposite. We'll dispose of him from the inside. And for that," he made a step to the side, motioning towards the guest waiting in the shadow, unnoticed until then by any other member in the room. "I'd like to introduce to you…"

* * *

**That'd be all for the first chapter. So let me know what you think. :)**


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